Wednesday, July 25, 2007

He he he, I love to experiment!! Well, after half a day of meddling with my voice recorder, Audacity, Podomatic, Feedburner and Blogger, here we go, my first podcast! As will be quite obvious when you listen to it, this is pretty amateur stuff, but well as Lao Tsu so wisely said, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Hopefully, I'll improve as I keep podcasting!

So, here we go... please give it a listen! And be warned, don't subscribe unless you are up to listening to sense and nonsense on a wide, wide spectrum of subjects :-) Well, it's rather presumptive to think you'll like my voice, but if you don't, obviously you won't subscribe!

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

If you are not having fun, you better watch this presentation! If you are, it's still good to see this, because you will end up having more fun than ever before... moreover, after seeing this you might realise you've not really been having fun all along, because this presentation on The Eight Irresistible Principles of Fun truly redefines the very word 'fun'.

Well, my favourite quote from this presentation is:

"When all is said and done, a lot more is said than done."

- Lou Holtz

So, let me say no more, and let you discover the eight principles for yourself! Have fun!

Monday, July 23, 2007

It is amazing how such a simple website can be so addictive, but it is! Simple... you go to the site, click on "Go" and it shows you one word and a text box. You have to just start typing into the text box whatever thoughts that word inspires in you. Just let your thoughts run wild and jot down whatever crosses your mind the moment you read that word!

As the developers explain on the site: "The real purpose of this exercise is to alleviate our natural tendency to edit everything-and learn to flow. An analogy would be a film camera: when a film is shot, the camera just rolls and captures everything-good and bad. When all the shooting is complete, the raw film is edited into a cohesive piece. The camera operator doesn't keepstopping the camera and rewinding and editing on-the-fly-the camera just rolls. If it were to stop, some of the best performances and spontaneous moments might be missed. So: be the camera. Well, that's a stupid saying, but you get the idea. In writing-just flow. Go back later and edit."

An excellent exercise for writers; a good way to unwind for all others as well!

And once you fall in love with oneword, try their other sites onecaption.com and poetc.com as well!

Sunday, July 22, 2007

The opening lines of Gregory David Roberts' book Shantaram, are perhaps the most beautiful I've read till date. It goes thus:

It took me a long time and most of the world to learn what I know about love and fate and the choices we make, but the heart of it came to me in an instant, while I was chained to a wall and being tortured. I realised, somehow, through the screaming in my mind, that even in that shackled, bloody helplessness, I was still free: free to hate the men who were torturing me, or to forgive them. It doesn't sound like much, I know. But in the flinch and bite of the chain, when it's all you've got, that freedom is a universe of possibility. And the choice you make, between hating and forgiving, can become the story of your life.

I've not been through such miseries in life, thankfully... and hopefully neither have you. But then 'shackled helplessness' can come in different magnitudes to different people at different times -- it can be as simple as not knowing why a friend is upset with you (and hence not being able to bridge the cleft), or when you've made some decision which goes wrong and you 'hate yourself' for it, or when you see an injustice but cannot correct it, and many more such common situations.

But good for us, we now have with us lessons such as that on the freedom to choose, from Roberts' book -- lessons that'll surely help us at some point in life or the other!

Hey, not it's not such a heavy book all through! Mumbaikars especially will love the way Roberts resonates a love for their city! He surely is a master of description, narration... and life!

About Me

I am freelance writer, editor and writing coach working out of my home-office in Chennai. While I am interested in a variety of subjects ranging from science to philosophy, my favourites are technology, food and culture.
I believe in David Halberstam's test... when I get up every morning, I ask myself if I am still excited about the work I do every day. And the answer is unfailingly affirmative!
More than anything else, I am a full-time, hands-on mom! I love my family, and give them first priority come what may. I always believe that life's little joys and Kodak moments are too valuable to be overlooked. Spending a few minutes recollecting my son's childish talk is enough to motivate me to face another busy day full of zest!